An ESP32-based Bluetooth touchpad project that drives an ELAN or any generic controller touchpad (PS/2 variant) to connect to a computer or mobile phone via Bluetooth, providing mouse functionality.
It all started with discomfort—I couldn’t lean back comfortably in my chair without having to keep my hand on the table just to move the mouse. So I searched to see if there were any USB touchpads, but the prices were outrageous. Then I looked for Bluetooth touchpads, but only found ones bundled with mini keyboards.
Eventually, I started looking for ways to build one myself and found many tutorials on converting old touchpads into external mice. BUT THEY WERE ALL SYNAPTICS. Meanwhile, the only touchpad I had was an ELAN, and fortunately, its pinout was easier to identify thanks to its simple labeling:
- TV: VCC
- TG: Ground
- TD: Data
- TC: Clock
With zero Arduino knowledge (of course idk how to use ESP32), I boldly experimented with many things until I finally got it working. Special thanks to Kristopher for the PS2-Mouse-Arduino library, T-vK for the ESP32-BLE-Mouse library, and Gaowanliang for the Synaptics-based references—which I didn’t understand at all. Without them, I would never have been able to create this masterpiece.
- Mouse movement
- Tap to click
- Single-finger double tap as mouse left click (build-in from my touchpad)
- Tap and drag to enable dragging
- Physical left and right mouse button (build-in from my touchpad)
- Vertical and horizontal scroll switch using button1
- Left CTRL using button2
I still don't know how to active multitouch, it just won't give any data if more than 1 finger touch it.
This program is compiled using PlatformIO. You can compile it by installing the PlatformIO plugin in VSCode. The project has already configured the platformio.ini file. You just need to open the project folder and click the PlatformIO Build button to compile.
You need to modify th lines in the src/main.cpp file, change to your actual pins.
#define MDATA 5
#define MCLK 4
const int buttonPin1 = 22;
const int buttonPin2 = 23;- left click = left click
- right click = right click
- move mouse = move touchpad
- scroll mode = toggle with button1
- fast scroll horizontal and vertical = move touchpad (I can't make it slow XD)
- slow scroll vertical = left and right click
- ctrl = button2 (for zoom in-out with scroll)
- forward = button2 + right click
- backward = button2 + left click
For more simple version check version 1
You're welcome to submit issues and pull requests to improve the project.
@Gaowanliang's ESP32-BLE-Touchpad project
@peter-pakanun's ESP32-BLE-Combo project
@Kristopher's PS2-Mouse-Arduino project
This project is based on the MIT license. For details, please refer to the LICENSE file.